5 players Jaguars could have drafted instead of K’Lavon Chaisson

No. 3 player the Jaguars could’ve drafted 20th in 2020 – Xavier McKinney

Turnovers have been hard to come by for the Jaguars’ defense over the last two years. Last season, the unit registered 17, good for 27th in the league. In 2021, they rank dead last ahead of Week 12 with a measly five and are on pace to log less than ten.

While it takes more than just one player to generate turnovers, Jacksonville would most likely consider taking safety Xavier McKinney if they had a chance for a redo in 2020. The Alabama product ended up landing with the New York Giants with the 36th overall pick last year.

McKinney wasn’t off to a great start, suffering a foot fracture and landing on the Injured Reserve list before the start of the 2020 season but quickly made up for the lost time. He made his debut in Week 12 and went on to start the last four games of his rookie campaign.

Now at full strength, McKinney has made the leap and is having a Pro Bowl-worthy campaign in 2021, appearing in ten games with nine starts and logging four interceptions, seven passes defensed, and 53 total tackles. The Jaguars would surely like to get that kind of production from the safety position, and if they had drafted him last year, this past offseason may have looked quite different.

Had Jacksonville taken McKinney, they might not have signed Rayshawn Jenkins or drafted Andre Cisco. Then again, their backfield would probably look better right now and their defense could have a few more turnovers this season.